---
title: "Los Angeles to Sydney (LAX → SYD): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "Los Angeles to Sydney is 12,061 km (7,494 mi) great circle, an estimated 15h 29m in the air. The route, what it flies over, and why the short way is not the straight line on a map."
url: https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-syd
---

LAX → SYD

# Los Angeles to Sydney: distance, flight time and the route it really takes

Los Angeles to Sydney Kingsford Smith is 12,061 km of great circle — 7,494 mi — and an estimated 15h 29m in the air. It crosses from North America to Oceania.

**Great circle**
12,061 km
7,494 mi

**Estimated in the air**
15h 29m
block time

**Furthest from equator**
33.9°S
at 100% along

**One lap of Earth**
30.1%
of 40,075 km

Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 24th longest.

The Los Angeles to Sydney route drawn as a great circle arc on a globe

## What the aircraft actually flies over

From Los Angeles the path crosses 12,031 km of open water.

The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 33.9°S, 100% of the way along.

Flying the line that looks straight on a Mercator map — one constant compass bearing — would cover 12,093 km. That is 31 km further, about 0% more, and roughly 2m of extra flying.

It arrives on almost the heading it left on — south-west at both ends. The two airports sit at nearly mirrored latitudes, so the arc climbs away from the equator and falls back to it by the same amount, and the compass ends up where it started.

One economy seat on it is about 1.71 t of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

[LAX–SYD carbon footprint →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-carbon-calculator?from=LAX&to=SYD) [Map this route →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-route-map?r=LAX-SYD)

From

LAX

## Los Angeles

Los Angeles, United States · North America

33.9°N, 118.4°W

[LAX airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/lax) [Flights to Los Angeles →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/los-angeles)

To

SYD

## Sydney Kingsford Smith

Sydney, Australia · Oceania

33.9°S, 151.2°E

[SYD airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/syd) [Flights to Sydney →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/sydney)

## Los Angeles to Sydney, asked and answered

**How far is Los Angeles to Sydney?**
Los Angeles to Sydney (LAX to SYD) is 12,061 km, or 7,494 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.

**How long is the flight from Los Angeles to Sydney?**
About 15h 29m in the air. That is an estimate from the distance at a typical airliner block speed, plus half an hour for taxi, climb and descent; published schedules vary with winds and routing.

**What route does a Los Angeles to Sydney flight take?**
The great circle passes over 12,031 km of open water. It reaches 33.9°S at its furthest from the equator.

## Where these numbers come from

Distances are computed from the two airports’ own coordinates, not looked up from published routes. Times are estimates, not schedules.

[Why the shortest path is a curve →](https://orbitflights.app/blog/great-circle-routes-explained)

## Flown this one?

Orbit logs it in two taps and draws the arc on your own globe, along with every other flight you can remember. Free for your first 15.

[Download now](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qwertybit.orbit)

## Nearby routes

[EZE → SYD Buenos Aires to Sydney 11,767 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/eze-to-syd) [LAX → HKG Los Angeles to Hong Kong 11,664 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-hkg) [YVR → SYD Vancouver to Sydney 12,501 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/yvr-to-syd) [LAX → MEL Los Angeles to Melbourne 12,758 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-mel) [MEL → LAX Melbourne to Los Angeles 12,758 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/mel-to-lax) [SCL → SYD Santiago to Sydney 11,340 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/scl-to-syd)

## Further reading

[How many miles do you have to fly around the world?](https://orbitflights.app/blog/how-many-miles-to-fly-around-the-world) [What is on the exact opposite side of the world?](https://orbitflights.app/blog/opposite-side-of-the-world) [What's actually worth counting in a flight log](https://orbitflights.app/blog/what-is-worth-counting-in-a-flight-log)

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Markdown copy of https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-syd for language models and agents. Site index: https://orbitflights.app/llms.txt